


a night tripper

by orphan_account



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Episode Tag: s02e22 Legacy, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, POV Outsider, Prostitution, the girl that tugged on spencer's tie for 2 seconds on screen becomes an over developed character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 16:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12656787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Spencer gets propositioned by every prostitute they talk to, Hotch gets profiled, and people don't say what they mean..   .   .a coda I jotted down to the season two episode Legacy





	a night tripper

**Author's Note:**

> im publishing this one shot at 2 am its not even betad im messy today
> 
> i think about spencer a lot. is he okay. i hope hes havign a grand ol time wherever he is. read the bottom notes for some rambling meta about the dilaudid subplot i guess?? i love yall

Yesenia’s been working this job for a long time. She’s used to straining her eyes to read license plates, keeping records of every trick’s appearance, and doing the same for every car or guy one of her girls hooks up with. She can tell you if the guy drove a Ford or a Chevy, if he looked like he was high or drunk, if he looked like he had a wife or was trying to get his V card checked out for a fee.

 

“We kinda do the same stuff, yeah?” She says, smacking her gum to some pig who thinks her name is Jasmine. He looks old enough to be her dad, maybe even her grandfather if her grandmother gave it up early, and is wearing an expression like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. She smiles, coy, just to see his eyebrow twitch. “Like, we both do Sherlock stuff and whatever. Only you do it for the FBI and I do it so I don’t get murdered brutally in the streets.”

 

It gets the shock factor she wanted, Agent Oldie sporting a particularly pained grimace while his partner, Agent Baby Face just looks like a sad puppy. She can hear Mimi’s heartbreaking from where they’re pressed together, and almost rolls her eyes. The babies are always so fragile.

 

“I’m sure with the dangers of your job, then, you’d remember if you saw anyone suspicious trolling around lately?” Agent Oldie says professionally, shifting his weight when his partner chimes in.

 

“If you’ve interacted with him, you’d remember him. Fastidious, wants everything a certain way, annoyed or angry when it isn’t.” Agent Baby Face says like a mantra, breaking into a yawn. Mimi giggles before Yesenia can even reply, leaning off the wall a bit to look closer at the younger agent. She steps on the younger girl’s foot discretely before she can say anything that sends the Obvious Virgin running for the hills. 

 

“Those are basically all our customers, Agent.” Yesenia forces out. One of Mimi’s earlier clients had shot up with her, and now she’s starting to regret agreeing to look after her tonight. “Don’t you have like, a police sketch or somethin’?” The older one shakes his head. 

 

“How about unusual cars? Any makes or models look out of place?” The cute one tries again, more clearly irritated. Or maybe just tired, Yesenia thinks, noticing the dark eye bags and remembering the yawning. Something pricks at the back of her mind, but she ignores it. Even if Agent Baby Face looks like he’s better suited to a part-time job in retail and not the FBI, their badges looked a little too real for a scam. And these guys made it clear they weren’t buying from the beginning, anyway- the older one practically has a flashing, neon sign screaming MARRIED!! I’M MARRIED!! above his head, and the younger one seems too… gentle for any of that.

 

She’s gonna kick herself for thinking that, but it’s true. He seems less like a soliciting alpha male and more like one of the girls she’d work with. Another prick at the back of her mind startles her, like there’s something about this guy she’s just not seeing, but she presses it back. More important issues than trying to scan the mind of some agent who looks like a kicked dog.

 

“I think I saw a pickup last week, those don’t usually come around.” Mimi offers helpfully, definitely leaning into Agent Baby Face’s space now. “I dunno, though, it was only some virgin looking for a quickie. I’m good at those.” Mimi says seriously, staring up into the Agent’s eyes as he smiles tensely. Agent Oldie looks like he’s struggling to keep a straight face, and Yesenia wants to bury her head in her hands.

 

“Sorry about Meems, she’s not  _ well.”  _ Yesenia says, putting the emphasis on well and hoping that the Agents catch her drift. The older one narrows his brow, somehow managing to look even more like a disapproving dad, but the younger one gives a sort of jerky, half-nod, as if he tried to stop himself halfway through. Interesting.

 

“I- I under- it’s okay.” Agent Baby Face stutters over himself, nervous. Crossing and uncrossing his arms as Mimi giggles  _ again, Jesus.  _ His partner looks sidelong at him, like he wants to say something, but ends up clenching his jaw and turning back to them.

 

Huh.

 

Yesenia wasn’t joking when she said that they did the same thing. She’s gotta be able to make split-second calls about people she meets just like they do, and she  _ specializes  _ in finding discomfort, finding tells. If a client rubs his neck when he says he’ll pay it all after, if some teenage boy clenches his hands when asking if they can go someplace more remote, she knows that she’s not going to get her job’s worth, or that she’s probably going to end up like Maggie. Right now, she could tell you that the older one is married, and probably a family man- likely to pay more out of guilt or some kind of pity, and likely to be uncomfortable with her suggesting anything. He’s wearing a good suit, but it’s well-worn. A pretty average watch that might have seen better days, shoes that aren’t showy. He makes good money but doesn’t spend for pleasure. Knowing that stuff is easy, is part of her job, determines whether or not she’ll even walk up to his car window. She’s not good at that freaky mind-reading shit she sees on Law and Order reruns, where the detective can tell whether two people are lovers or mortal enemies based on their eating habits or whatever, but even she can see the strain between Agents Oldie and Baby Face.

 

But the younger guy practically screams  _ wounded soul _ at her, the kind of guy she almost feels bad asking for money, and yet the family man is… mad? Disappointed, more like. Yesenia just raises a brow, not wanting to get distracted with bacon drama. Even if Mimi is drooling over the piglet like he’s her next fix.

 

“Either way,” Says Agent Oldie severely, obviously ignoring the hurt look on his partner’s face, “We think these disappearances have something to do with a compulsion the man has to, uh,” The agent clears his throat awkwardly, “‘Clean up’ Kansas City.”

 

“Oh.” Yesenia says, shifting her weight. “So he’s hunting  _ us  _ down?” She knew that some of her girls hadn’t shown up, but also that a lot of business was moving to the other side of the city, and that the new rehab facility had just expanded to accept more pro bono cases. Suits it that the one time in her life she’s optimistic, her girls are getting kidnapped.

 

“Not just prostitutes,” The younger agent says tiredly, as if he’s worn out just standing out here. “Anyone he could consider ‘unclean’ is at risk. Think about the homeless, the HIV positive, drug addicts.” He pinches his hand at this, growing decidedly timider as he continues, “The people who ‘burden’ society.” Yesenia grinds her teeth again, frustrated by the agent’s wording, and it appears that the older one is too.

 

“Not  _ burdens, _ of course, just in the UnSub’s eyes.” He says, like a stern father. Mimi nods, clueless, while the younger one clearly grows more uncomfortable at the statement. She doesn't know why she feels so mad, it only makes sense that a fed like Agent Baby Face would consider a drug addict a burden to society, to their friends, to the world. Yesenia stands up straighter, looking the younger in the eye.

 

“You two don’t seem to agree on that one.” She says, smacking her gum in lieu of giving her statement any emotion. She doesn’t exactly want to piss off the bacon tonight, especially if they’re making sure her girls don’t get murdered.

 

The agents just look wide-eyed, the younger one moreso- he’s been shaking like he’s had a fever all night, but now he’s barely hiding that he’s trembling like a leaf. Yesenia wishes she hadn’t said anything and smacks her gum nervously. “None of my business, anyroad. Go ahead with what you were sayin’.”

 

The family man stares at her for a single, terrifying second, before blinking. “Right, well... If you know any of your girls that are especially at risk, tell them to take a day off,” At her and Mimi’s twin, disbelieving expression, Agent Oldie amends. “Or at least to stay in twos. We haven’t heard of a double-abduction yet, so if you two continue to pair up you should be safe.”

 

Mimi nods excitedly, clutching the older girl’s arm like a child. “Yes, of course, Agents.” She says lasciviously, pupils blown and focused on the jailbait agent far more than the other. “I’m sure you’ll keep our streets nice and safe, though, won’t you,” Mimi tilts a little too far forward in her heels, stumbles her way into playing with Agent Baby Face’s tie, much to his partner’s humor.

 

Yesenia blinks as the agent messily tucks his tie back in, trying and not succeeding to disguise the agitation. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think the younger one was jonesing. It’s not like he didn’t match the signs so far- tired, irritated, jittery all could describe Agent Baby Face. Plus, he was almost as thin as Mimi, and his clothes looked about as bargain-brand as they could get. 

 

Yesenia jerks herself out of her thoughts.  _ It takes a junkie to know a junkie,  _ she thinks bitterly,  _ and it takes a friend of a junkie to see them everywhere. _

 

“You two stay safe tonight, okay? Pass this information on to anyone else at risk, as well.” The older agent says. Apparently Mimi had handled the conversation perfectly fine while Yesenia was staring off into space. She takes his outstretched hand with a giggle, smiling at his partner’s awkward wave while Yesenia just grimaces.

 

She wonders if they would have been able to do more if she worked at Macy’s, and didn’t blow guys behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> hhhh i really liked this episode for some reason. just something about it stuck out to me its one of my favourite of the "filler" episodes. also @ cbs. what happened to spencer's drug addiction like it was there for a solid uh Two Weeks and then he just??? got better???? and we never knew what hotch or gideon ever thought about it, or if anyone else even KNEW about it at the time it was actually happening. like it got swept under the rug so quickly we never really knew how it affects him, or his relationships. did he feel angry for not getting support when he needed it? did he feel guilty for even asking? was he acting mean as a cry for help, or because of the drug, or because of the ptsd? @ CBS I HAVE NEEDS AND THOSE NEEDS ARE ANSWERS


End file.
